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﻿CANELO & COTTO DEBATE CATCH-WEIGHT﻿

By TOM WATT on July 2 2015

Boxing’s next ‘Mega-fight’ - a showdown between Mexican
superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Puerto Rican legend Miguel Cotto is edging
closer to being confirmed with provisional dates of November 7th and
November 21st being reported. However, the latest snag in
negotiations has been, as seems to be the way right now, the agreed
catch-weight for the bout. Alverez, who has campaigned at 154lbs for the
majority of his career is apparently asking to fight at 156lbs. Cotto, the
current WBC Middleweight (160lbs) Champion is requesting to fight at 155lbs – one
pound less.

The conversation surrounding catch-weights and their place
in the sport has been rife recently with Cotto and his team having a large part
to play in that given their demands to defend the 160lb Middleweight Title
against Daniel Geale at a catch weight of 157lbs, there are those who believe
Cotto has earnt his right to demand a catch-weight and others who say that a
World Title should be fought at the regulated weight, particularly considering the
number of weight divisions in the modern game.

Whether or not you agree with them, catch-weights are here
to stay and set to be a key part of negotiations for this huge fight. Canelo,
who re-hydrates heavily after weigh-ins, has had no issues with making weight in
the past and 1lbs is hardly likely to make that much of a difference to the
young Mexican unless a re-hydration clause is re-introduced as we saw with the
recent Broner Porter fight on PBC. It seems more likely that this stumbling
block is a clash of egos rather than a battle for a physical advantage, with
Cotto campaigning at Middleweight recently it may seem odd that his tea have
opted for the lower weight but given Canelo’s natural size advantage it is
hardly surprising.

Don’t expect this to be the last pain point in negotiations,
Cotto has a history in recent times of wanting to control negotiations and impose
his own stipulations, stipulations that led to long-time Middleweight Supremo,
Sergio Martinez labeling the Puerto Rican a ‘Diva’ due to his ‘absurd’ demands
in the run up to their fight which included entering the ring second and
fighting out of the red corner. Canelo for his part is a hugely popular figure
in Latin America and Cotto will understand that the numbers this fight will do
is in no small part down to the popularity of his opponent as much as himself
and we may see him being a little more flexible in his demands, although we
have seen before with Cotto before that he is happy to walk away If things aren’t
going well.

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